Day 15: Step #7, Choosing An International Banking Jurisdiction

Does An International Bank Account Make Sense As Part Of Your Overall Live-, Retire-, Invest-Overseas Plan?

Dear Student,

As part of the administrative infrastructure to support your new life overseas, you’re going to need a bank account in the country where you decide to relocate. We’ll address that later in the program, when we work through an overall getting-settled-in-your-new-home agenda.

Meantime, as part of your bigger-picture live-, retire-, and invest-overseas strategy, you may also need or want what might be termed an international bank account—that is, an account at a bank that isn’t necessarily located where you’re living. In fact, it can be better if it’s not.

This bank account, typically with a bank with offices around the world, is part of your overall diversification plan. It’s a place to park assets and capital privately and safely.

The first question to address as you consider your options for where this international bank account might best be opened is whether or not the bank has offices in the United States.

It’s a trade-off. A U.S. office typically means faster response time and more convenient service. On the other hand, it also means that the IRS could levy the account and that civil creditors could sue the bank or attach your account.

By choosing an international bank without an office Stateside, you’re allowing for maximum privacy and security. At the same time, an international bank without any U.S. presence won’t provide you with U.S.-compliant reporting, meaning your tax filings will be a little more complex.

The other key consideration when choosing an international banking jurisdiction is your own agenda. What do you want the bank account for? Will it also serve as an operating account (in a country where you have a rental investment property, for example, and therefore need a way to pay local bills)? Are you looking for a bank that will manage an investment account for you? Or are you shopping simply for a place to park capital? These are very different objectives, and a bank that would be a good choice in one case could make no sense whatsoever in the other.

Once you’ve decided you want to put your money with a bank that has no offices in the United States and that will provide investment management services (for example), how, then, do you choose a jurisdiction?

We and our trusted colleagues in this field have many years of experience helping our readers to choose the offshore banking jurisdiction that best suits their needs and agendas. We walked attendees at our most recent Offshore Wealth Summit through the thinking behind making this choice, comparing and contrasting key jurisdictions, including Andorra, Hong Kong, Belize, and Nevis, and making specific bank recommendations in each case.

We recorded that panel presentation.